For my LINK Internship, I worked with musical professionals at the iAM Music Institute. The iAM Music Institute is a non-profit here in Durango that is dedicated to teaching music and supporting musicians in our community. They also do outreach programs to bring music education to places that wouldn't normally have a music class. These include Animas High School, Big Picture High School, The Liberty School, La Plata Youth Services and Denier Youth Services. http://www.iammusic.us/
LINK Anticipation and Preparation
My internship with the iAM Music Institute was beyond phenomenal. Everything about the process was easy and concise. To begin with, my email inquiring about an internship there was responded to within a couple hours, and Alissa, the Executive Director was so amazing and pleasant throughout all of our correspondence. Meeting with Alissa, Jesse and Ashley, we developed my plan for success before I even began my internship. This layed out all of my responsibilities, the plan for my involvement with their outreach programs, and my final project. My hours were clearly laid out and what was expected of me was made very clear from the beginning.
I only had to contact two places in order to get my internship, and I didn't receive a no. I contacted the Stillwater Foundation in addition to iAM, since they are the other music school in Durango. They had never had an intern before, so while they were trying to see if they could work something out for me, I reached out to iAM and they responded with a resounding yes. I went with them because they had had Animas High interns before and had a set internship plan.
There wasn't a lot of preparation work for this internship. I did try to learn a couple chords on ukulele and guitar ahead of time but it didn't do a lot in terms of preparing me. I learned at such a fast pace with Jesse, that I would have never guessed was possible. I also never would have thought that I would enjoy playing those instruments so much.
I really had hoped to bring a love for music and be helpful during my internship, and I think that I can safely say that I did both. I had quite a few of the instructors coming up to me at the end and telling me that they wished that I could stay and that they really enjoyed having me around and working with me. I wish the same thing. My internship could have been three months and I would still want more time there. I loved being around my passion and others who felt the same about it, and had made it their life and reality.
Reflection
I was very nervous and excited going into my internship because I was expected to learn guitar and ukulele as well as write a song. I had never done any of those before and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete it along with my other duties around the studio. I had also never thought that being a professional musician was something that was realistic for me.
When I showed up on my first day, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know if I was going to end up actually making music and everything was going to be amazing or if I was going to end up just carrying around gear and organizing the studio and have a terrible time. I was terrified that I was going to end up failing and that my mentors would end up not liking me.
As it turns out, I did a lot of both and everyone loved me. For my project, I wrote a song with help from my mentors. I also learned guitar and ukulele. They let me sit in on their classes at Animas High, Big Picture and Liberty as well as teaching me how to set up all of the audio gear that is needed for a gig.
Speaking of gigs, I got to help set up the Stillhouse Junkies concert at Ska Brewing and I was a guest performer with Space Between Shadows during my internship. Then, during my final week I performed my original song called, All Over Now, and a cover of a Lana Del Rey.
This was the most incredible three weeks of my life. I realized that being a professional musician is something that I could realistically do. It taught me so much about the music industry